Call Kurtis volunteer duo committed to helping community, dedicated to their endearing special friendship
Every day, CBS13's Call Kurtis consumer investigative team works hard to solve your consumer problems. We are the only Sacramento television station with an entire team devoted to you and your consumer concerns.
A major component of our Call Kurtis team is comprised of a dedicated squadron of community members who work each day in our Volunteer Center. Most of them have been with us for many years. You know their voices. Each week, they answer your calls when you phone in to us. They also reach out to you if they have questions about your consumer issue.
Combined, two of our longtime Call Kurtis volunteers have been with us for nearly three decades. That is how dedicated Russ Moss and Armand Bakalian are to assisting you with your consumer issues. A familiar and endearing presence in our newsroom since 2010, you will likely never see these two in front of the camera unless you spot them in one of the Call Kurtis promotional spots. They are colleagues as well as friends. There is a very special bond between this dynamic duo.
As a retired Bay Area police officer, Moss likes to keep busy by honoring his lifelong commitment to serving the community. He has raised a family and he has worked hard, earning the right to a relaxing retirement after spending 34 years as a police officer in South San Francisco. After retiring from the police force, his career entered a new phase when he became the city's assistant city manager.
All these years, Moss has driven each Monday to the CBS13 studios for his volunteer shift, and he has picked up Bakalian to accompany him for the ride.
That is because Bakalian is blind.
"Armand is a special guy," Moss says when asked for his thoughts about his friend and CBS13 colleague.
The kind compliments are certainly mutual.
"And it's great to have a good friend like Russ," Bakalian adds.
Moss not only picks up Bakalian for the drive to the station, he also helps him to and from his desk. But, it is Moss who explains that it is Bakalian who really helps him.
"And if I have a problem, I go to Armand," he says.
When Bakalian is at his desk in the newsroom, he has a special machine with Braille buttons, which tell him what is on the computer screen. "It's called the Braille note apex," he explains.
But, to actually watch him work, you would eventually notice that he hardly jots down much. That is because Bakalian's mind is quite amazing.
"You tell him, 'Write this phone number.' Down he goes," Moss says. "Now, five days later. What was the phone number? I gave you the song. So he's got it right there. He's got this special little blackboard in his brain that keeps everything."
Between the two of them, it's a working formula. And that is just fine with us at the station.
"Russ has got a great sense of humor, and he will give you the shirt off his back, and plus his back, if he could," Bakalian says.
All of this while the two, along with our other volunteers, help our viewers with their consumer problems. It is quite the beautiful bond.
"It's a very special relationship," Bakalian says of his close and caring friendship with Moss.
It is a friendship born out of a mutual passion for helping others in need.
"It's a relationship that I really treasure because I'm able to help Armand," Moss says.
You can see their work each week in our Call Kurtis consumer investigative stories. If you should one day need to "Call Kurtis", you will more than likely hear their voices on the other end of the phone.
Remember, if you have a consumer problem you cannot solve, CBS13 is the only station in town with a team to go to bat for you. To get started, fill out our form online.